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Post by sweazzy627 on Feb 2, 2011 21:47:05 GMT -5
Just wondering what people think is the toughest climb in the area and why?
I think Waterrock. It's not that difficult, but it's the same constant grade for 8 miles! I get bored, not steep enough to stand and no inkling of a down grade, just slow spinning.
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Post by Scott Baker on Feb 4, 2011 23:09:41 GMT -5
That is a great question and one that is pretty subjective. My answers depend on length of the climb, or gradient, or where it may fall during ride, etc. My perspective is all road biking. I couldn't just list one climb!
Waterrock is one of my favorites. It is pretty tough, especially if you start from Sylva and count it once it start uphill on Skyland Drive then Dark Ridge up to the BRP. While you do get a few "breaks", this makes it about a 17-mile climb. The Waterrock climb is nice in that you can make it as hard as you like on the BRP. Just spin it out at an easy tempo or try and set your best time or rip your buddies legs off.
The climb from Cherokee on the BRP up to the top of the first long climb is also a beast. While you get about 1KM of downhill about 2/3 of the way up, this is a long one as well at about ~12 miles.
My Cullowhee favorite trio to ascend are Tilley Creek, Ellijay, and Cullowhee Mtn. I only enjoy descending Tilley Creek. All are 3-4 miles and each has its own gut shots. Tilley Creek is probably the hardest since it contains the steepest section.
Walnut Creek is one I typically only climb in the Tour de Cashiers, and it begins at the 80-mile point with about 8000' in your legs. I have never climbed it and felt good on the TdC. Doing the reverse Ring of Fire it feels OK. It is a 6-mile beast. It is a moody climb where it hits you in the gut to start, teases you in the middle, then cracks your neck at the end.
Over in Macon County just outside of Franklin is the Wayah climb. This one starts out seeming tame, but quickly locks you into what seems to be a never ending set of steep climbing and switchbacks.
Another tough little climb is Locust Creek. Just off Old Cullowhee Rd on the north end, this climb is tame the first few miles then kicks up severely for about a mile or so. When I say steep, this one does not under-perform.
The little 1KM climb on Charleys Creek on the 215 side (coming from 215 towards 281) is a real gut shot. This one comes at about mile 70 on the Tour de Tuck century and never, ever, ever feels even remotely enjoyable.
Probably the out-of-the-gate hardest climb is Monteith Branch. Is is just about 1.5 miles outside Sylva off Skyland Drive. The climb is ~2 miles, but it is damn hard. It teases you with an easy-looking preview off Skyland Drive. Once you round the first curve, get used to looking up and feeling pain mentally and physically.
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Post by dobovedo on Feb 5, 2011 4:12:38 GMT -5
That is a great question and one that is pretty subjective. My answers depend on length of the climb, or gradient, or where it may fall during ride, etc. My perspective is all road biking. I couldn't just list one climb!... Excellent summary Scott! I can't think of a single part of your reply that I'd disagree with, except that I've never climbed Locust Creek. I don't find Waterrock to be all that tough of a climb (counting only from Balsam), but that's probably because I rarely ride it hard. It's just too enjoyable to bother hurting myself on and I almost always go up solo. I'm way more into the scenery than the suffering. Of the four climbs on ROF and reverse ROF, I'd say Tilley Creek is the hardest followed by Walnut Creek. Elijay is the easiest "on paper", but I just can't seem to get it "right" all the way up. It's tricky because the grade changes so much and it's hard to find a rhythm. Every time I've done it I end up with too much left at the top or I've cracked long before I get there (like last weekend!) I've only done Wayah one time and it totally crushed me. But that's because I got cocky and attacked the guys I was riding with at what I thought was close to the top but found out was only about 2/3. Oops. Fun stuff to talk about and really get motivated for spring!
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Post by Vespa on Feb 5, 2011 23:54:17 GMT -5
Like Scott said, this is so subjective!
I'll rank our top 10 local climbs followingly, for me:
1. Yellow Creek between 28 and the Cheoah: No contest. None. Anyone who climbs it (East-to-West) would agree. Only thing I've climbed like it is Amicalola in GA -- long and 25%.
2. Walnut Creek. The one day I climbed it, we turned around at the HWY 64 station to look for a straggler. Ironically, Scott kept going clockwise alone that day.
3. The Jackson County Airport from Cullowhee. It's short, but the pressure to go hard the whole way makes it a gut-buster.
4. Tilley Creek. That long steep stretch is just brutal. Then it goes dark up into the woods.
5. Ellijay. I just can't get my rhythm there, usually.
6. Yeah. Wayah.
6. Cullowhee Mt. I actually like C'Whee Mountain. It's somehow entertaining. I'm distracted and encouraged by a big change in scenery, switchbacks, and an increasingly easy false-flat finish. But hey -- it's a major mountain ascent.
7. Waterrock. It's just not that steep, but it's looooong. Especially from Sylva. I've climbed it as a tag-on to the Ring of Hades. Then, it'd be higher on this list.
8. Anything on Charlie's Creek, either direction you're going.
9. Any of the side climbs that Scott likes to do off of Skyland or Old Cullowhee. They're all medium length but steep as heck.
10 -- there's no 10. All the other climbs on the parkway toward and from Cherokee, All the other stuff toward Highlands, and more -- they all could be on this impossible list.
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Kent
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Post by Kent on Feb 6, 2011 11:44:38 GMT -5
Despeaux just beat me to Yellow Creek in Graham Co. A great loop! Also there is the climb from the Nantahala put-in, up FS 711 road to Wayah Rd...it just never ends and the pavement has to be nearly non-existent at this point. It's been a few years, but it is an Epic climb with a great descent(with one nasty climb out of Nantahala lake).
Of course all the others mentioned are brutal, but I was trying to come up with some new ones.
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Post by Vespa on Feb 6, 2011 12:15:31 GMT -5
Despeaux just beat me to Yellow Creek in Graham Co. A great loop! Also there is the climb from the Nantahala put-in, up FS 711 road to Wayah Rd...it just never ends and the pavement has to be nearly non-existent at this point. It's been a few years, but it is an Epic climb with a great descent(with one nasty climb out of Nantahala lake). . How could I have forgotten 711, Kent? I think the last time I rode that I was with you. That was a fun day. Remember the time we rode Ring of Fire and I had parked us all on my road...THIS side of the Airport hill? That was a nice way to finish a loop with almost 5000 feet of climbing, huh?
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Kent
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Post by Kent on Feb 6, 2011 22:59:55 GMT -5
I think that was the last time I rode the Ring of Fire....I wonder why? Maybe it's time again! And an assault on 711...might be a cross ride by now. Anyone been up there in the last year or so?
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Post by sweazzy627 on Feb 7, 2011 22:09:59 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies. I'm trying to find new training grounds. I am looking for steep climbs (out of the saddle climbs). I have never ridden in Cherokee or that area. I need to try that side of Waterrock.
Locus Creek by far is a good one. Done that before, just have to be careful going back down. Last time I rode it I went way too fast down the straight away towards the top, ended up cross the double yellow and almost in the grass.
My personal favorite is Tilley. I doesn't seem like anyone likes it. I find it a good climb to train your brain to endure long climbs being that you see the road straight ahead of you.
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Post by Josh Whitmore on Feb 7, 2011 22:41:20 GMT -5
I ride 711 5-6 times a year. Just went up it about a week ago. It is definitely in bad shape with lots of holes but I usually do it on my road bike with 700x23 specialized armadillo tires - the beefy flat resistant ones and haven't had any problem. You have to be careful on some of the downhill corners, but it is doable and no traffic. Last time I rode it, I actually went on my cyclocross bike and went from the NOC along Needmore and over Tellico gap on the dirt roads, then up 711, and back down to NOC, the biggest problem was snow and ice cover in the shady spots. They don't plow 711.
As for hardest climbs, I don't know, they are all hard. I think the one that hurts me the most and most often is just the little climb up Yellow Bird Branch (the LAST climb in the Tour de Tuck 100 route) to my house or similarly up Savanna dr from Sylva back to my house after at the end of a ride. I have usually trashed myself with some workout or other climbs and just want to cruise back to the house, so getting up that last little bit to the house usually is the most painful.
I remember Vespa saying once as we neared the end of a Cherokee Water-rock loop after starting in Cullowhee that going back over Catamount Gap was his least favorite and most painful climb. Same principal, although I wouldn't want to end a ride by climbing all the way to his house.
I bet Scott has some similar feelings to the final climb to his house, which is much harder than mine. I'm surprised he didn't list that one.
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Post by Josh Whitmore on Feb 7, 2011 22:45:09 GMT -5
Stephen, I think you would enjoy an ascent of the Heintooga Motor Road. That's another dirt road I ride on my road bike every once in a while.
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Post by dobovedo on Feb 8, 2011 3:14:51 GMT -5
Damn, all this awesome climbing talk makes me wanna move back to Sylva! On that note, looks like my GF may be moving to Cullowhee in April for her senior year at WCU. That means I'll have lots of opportunities to head that way and ride, ride ride all summer long.
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Post by Scott Baker on Feb 8, 2011 22:31:29 GMT -5
Josh - You are right. Of all the hills I suffer on the most, it is that 1/2 mile climb back to my house. It starts at 8% and hits 15% just before relenting to descend a half mile home. I have done many, many hard rides from home and then questioned my ability to make it up that final climb home. Thanks for pointing that out! Dobo - Look forward to you being over here more. It took you moving for us to ride together other than a Tuesday MM ride!
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Post by sweazzy627 on Feb 8, 2011 23:27:55 GMT -5
Haha, Yellow Bird Branch. That climb is a bitch. It's either the first mile leaving from my home or the last mile leaving from the shop. Plus the top out on Savannah following.
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Post by godzulla on Feb 10, 2011 13:03:24 GMT -5
I love all those climbs you all mentioned. I've most of them 10+ time at least. The only one I didn't do is Yellow Bird. I punched it in and got topo data.
I have 1 climb I go to every year to do. That's our focus of whole 5 day trip. It's Called Toxiway. Can't divulge too much info....but If you look at toxiway lake (get elev.) then look at top (get elev.) and imagine a 2 mile road to get to top. Basically, the grade is between 20-30% with 15 switchbacks and one short downhill before final uphill. About 30-35min zig zagging for a good local racer/climber. Harder than Brasstown from a guy that used think brasstown was hard. We will be there in April and I will post the day we do it if anyone want's to join in the fun.
Can't ride down. Way too dangerous. It's hard even to stop it's that steep. We go down Cold Mountain.
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Post by cujo on Feb 10, 2011 19:41:30 GMT -5
It is in Asheville area but Dillingham to Craggy is pretty brutal. Gravel and mud most of the way and long.
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